Danny Is Tired - Tumblr Posts
Danny after staying up for 6 hours while wounded to keep Nightwing on concussion watch: oh good you're awake. hi im-
Nightwing, brimming with audacity:
Danny, promptly decking his ass:
The Ghost King Wants To Rest!
After years of discovering about his immortality and living through the death and reincarnation of his loved ones, Danny was tired. The world had changed: it had destroyed, rebuilt, reboot, he honestly lost the thread over the years.
Although he could admit that it was interesting to see the evolution, the arrival of heroes on his "original" dimension. And maybe he forced Technus to build him a radio that would alert him to space-related issues there...
He was thrilled when Martian Manhunter was heralded as a hero (Superman was a pretty cool alien yes, but too... human?), though that was basically all the news he had of current civilization (not that he needed further)
The years passed and at the end he decided to live out his retirement on earth out of nostalgia (and by that he means Clockwork got his ass out of the Realms for a break) in what was once Amity a long time ago, he built a nice cabin in the mountains and settled there.
His relationship with Clockwork had evolved over the years, and Danny understood that his mentor (sometimes father) was very concerned that immortality would negatively affect him.
Seeing how he locked himself in his castle for the first few years after Jazz death didn't help alleviate his fears. So Danny didn't complain when the ghost threw him to Earth on that dimension (besides, it had Aliens now! and he missed Amity...even if it was not Amity anymore)
But people won't stop pestering him during his retirement! "Save us" "Help us balance the world, chosen one" "Play with me, let cause chaos!" And more ridiculous phrases. Can the horned boy and wizards leave him alone!? He just wanted to rest!
He couldn't even ask his loved ones for help because their reincarnations didn't recognize him (or did, and made fun of his situation).
On the other hand, Justice League Dark and Klarion have spent years trying to bring the powerful entity that lives in the mountains to their side but nothing works! Why is it so intent on pretending to be an old man with an appearance of 20!?
“That’s it! I give up!” Phantom yelled. As though he had said something blasphemous, all fighting stopped as the participants stared in confusion. “You humans think you’re the paragon of all existence, proclaiming that anything different is lesser. Well we aren’t! We’re just as sentient as you are, and we have thoughts and feelings! You just choose to ignore it so you can justify your xenophobic actions!”
Phantom turned to Technus, who had frozen in shock as Phantom went on his tirade. “And you! Tell the other ghosts I’m done saving them, too, because none of you care! You don’t care if property is destroyed, or if humans get hurt, or if other ghosts get hurt! All you care about is your stupid Obsessions! You’re too caught up in your own mind to see what you’re doing to everyone around you!”
“But your Obsession is Protection, is it not? You’ve never stepped down from a fight-“ Technus began. Phantom didn’t let him finish.
“My Obsession is Space! If I had my way, I’d spend my nights stargazing, or maybe even on the moon! Instead I’m stuck cleaning up your messes because you can’t control yourselves!” Phantom growled. He glared at the crowd of people who had gathered, curious as to why all fighting had stopped.
“Humans are cruel and hateful. Ghosts are ignorant and careless. I’m tired of wasting my time protecting both sides from the other and being blamed for it. I quit. If anyone dies, or is captured, it’s no longer my problem.“
Like that, Phantom vanished.
The Fentons celebrated, not even noticing Technus make his own escape. The crowd murmured, worry just as prevalent as confidence. The few phones that were recording the event were put away, and later the footage would be checked. Unfortunately, most recordings were corrupted beyond recognition.
Most, but not all.
——————————————————
Amity Park. Ground Zero for the start of the war between the Living and the Dead. Humanity and Ghosts.
Why it had only recently escalated to this, Batman couldn’t tell. His research found that there had been a portal opened to the Realms years ago, and the laws passed just a year after that. Most of the town was stuck behind an information blackout that the government refused to give access to. Whatever happened, Constantine assured him that it was almost certainly the government’s fault.
After almost three weeks of trying to get beyond the firewalls, he finally figured it out. “Research” that claimed ghosts were nothing but evil. News articles calling “Phantom” a troublemaker. Forums that spoke about how “Phantom” ruined the town while fighting other ghosts.
A video, old and grainy but still clear enough to be used as evidence. A glowing, white-haired boy that told everyone he was done. That he was tired of fixing everything. Of saving everyone. That nobody was good, everyone was bad, and they were on their own.
They used to have a hero, but Phantom left. Without him, both sides tore at each other until there was nothing but an all-out assault. They needed to stop this, but without a mediator they would not make it through to the ghosts.
If they could find Phantom, perhaps they could fix everything before it was too late.
The Spiteful Ghost
Danny loved space, and loved exploring it almost as much as he loved the Realms (yes, apparently he had made a home there, and learned to love its quirkiness, who could knew right?). The problem was that over the years the halfa acquired another characteristic: He hated heroes.
It might seem ironic, considering his teenager years but he just couldn't stand the concept of heroism (he never chosed to be one), not after all he had been through. Not after losing his family and ending up with more than deep wounds, not after humanity called him a villain for protecting the ghosts, not after the world chosed to sacrifice him after all he did for them (Amity was his world, and the city handed him over on a silver platter to save itself, they forced him to take drastic measures, actions he should never have taken, but when you're alone it turns out that no one can stop you)
They say that rancor can change you, the halfa can confirm. The point is, Danny hated heroes (he hated what they had to go through, hated that adult heroes weren't there for him, hated what it took to be a hero, leaving everything for the world was absurd, why would you accept something like that?). When the ghosts told him about the DC dimension he didn't take it exactly well. Although at least those heroes had a base in space.
Clockwork forbade him to go for a few months (he understood his grudge, quite personal, but he didn't want it to destroy him, he didn't want him to destroy himself), but when he saw him lost and depressed he allowed it, probably because he knew it would cheer him up for a while. Maybe he saw some future where he reconciled with the "profession", or maybe he thought he needed it (the halfa wasn't evil, Clockwork knew he wouldn't hurt anyone).
So, Danny arrived in the hero dimension and set out to be the world's biggest nuisance: moved chairs, ate their snacks, disappeared their stuff. He wasn't doing anything exceptionally big until he overheard an argument between the Red Hood and Batman.
After that, Batman ran out of gadgets in no time and Red Hood found little desserts everywhere. By the time they called JLD, it was pretty obvious they had an invader (the invader strangely loved Young Justice, and anti-heroes, seemed to hate Batman thought).
John Constantine entered feeling that he was walking to his funeral, why the hell had the Ghost King installed himself in a hero base, if it was rumored that he hated them to death?
Let me retire!
Danny was tired of being a hero, in addition to being a profession that paid with nothing more than mental exhaustion and ungrateful citizens, the halfa was tired of having to bandage his wounds day after day, tired of seeing both perspectives and not knowing which side take
Danny could understand ghosts, he could understand how their obsessions were a fundamental part of who they were as people and there were things they couldn't help. While he initially protected Amity from the ghosts, at some point he also had to protect the ghosts from Amity.
So, it's no wonder that as soon as he saw the founding of the "Justice League" he declared that he was going to retire. He told it to the ghosts, since the humans weren't going to pay much attention to him.
The problem was when 2 weeks later he had to come out of his early retirement because the League had labeled Amity as "neutral ground" and "dangerous" and they were "capturing" criminals, who weren't even criminals, Ember was giving a concert!
Frustrated, the halfa went to the Watchtower, it was supposed to be his retirement! stop ruining it!
Inspired by an actual interaction I had with a classmate
[ID: 4 Panel comic with Sam Mason and Danny Fenton from the cartoon Danny Phantom. Sam is on the left side of each panel and is colored in monochrome purple. She has chin-length dark hair and wears a gothic blouse with elbow length sleeves. Danny is on the right side of each panel and is colored in monochrome blue. He has long bangs and wears a short sleeved hoodie; his right hand is bandaged. They are in a classroom; behind them the background is a pale grayish lavender with bookshelves, a globe, a clock and a crate.
Panel 1: Sam is writing in a notebook, head resting on her hand. Danny yawns and is reaching for something to the right side of the panel
Panel 2: Danny, eyes barely open, opens a drink can with a "crack" sound effect. To the right of him are 3 packets. Sam doesn't move positions but the noises catches her attention, her eyes glance to Danny.
Panel 3: Danny tears open the packets, which have an arrow pointing to them saying "Caffeine packets" and pours them into the drink can, which has an arrowing pointing to it saying "energy drink". Sam looks at him with a slightly concerned and incredulous expression
Panel 4: Zoomed in. Danny drinks the mix, with just the can, his hand and mouth visible in the foreground. Sam looks on with a disgusted and shocked expression. The letters "wtf" next to her head. /END ID]